ICC T20 World Cup: Five Controversies

The ICC T20 World Cup 2026 will be hosted jointly by India and Sri Lanka and will start from February 07, 2026. This is the 10th edition of the competition and it promises some exciting and never-seen-before cricketing action. Like the 2024 edition, this time the T20 World Cup will have 20 participating nations.

There has been nine editions of the T20 World Cup ahead of the 2026 edition. There has been six champions in the past nine editions. India won twice, so did England and West Indies. Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka won once. The first edition of the competition was played on 2007. The other editions were played in 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2021, 2022 and 2024.

Over the years, along with some great cricketing actions, there has been some big controversies as well, which in turn, became iconic moments in the history of the competition and cricket.

Virat Kohli’s "Fake Fielding" Incident

In 2022, Bangladesh camp accused Virat Kohli of faking a fielding attempt, which could have resulted in five potentially crucial penalty runs for Bangladesh. Litton Das dabbed the ball towards the deep off-side field off Axar Patel. As Arshdeep Singh sent in the throw, Kohli, who was positioned at point, made a "fake" throw gesture. Bangladesh eventually lost the game narrowly and reported the incident to the Umpire. Although the Umpire said, he did not see the incident take place.

Cricket's Law 41.5, pertaining to unfair play, prohibits the "deliberate distraction, deception or obstruction of batter", and if an incident is deemed to be a breach, the umpire can declare that particular delivery as dead ball, and award the batting side five run

Marlon Samuels Vs Shane Warne Controversy

Late Shane Warne and cricketer Marlon Samuels engaged in a heated debate during a BBL 2012-13 game. Warne threw a ball at Samuels and Samuels slammed the bat in the direction of Warne. The bitterness between them came out during the ICC T20 World Cup 2016.

When West Indies won the final and Samuels was named the man of the match, he entered the press conference and put his legs up in the table. After that, he pointed out how Shane Warne, as a commentator, has criticized him throughout the tournament for no reason and said that his face was real while Warne's was not.

Andrew Symonds Sent Home

Andrew Symonds, well-known for being involved in multiple-controversies, was sent home by Australia ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2009 due to an alcohol-related incident. Cricket Australia's statement indicated that he broke a number of team rules just a week after arriving in the host-nation England.

Reports suggested Symonds was part of a small group of Australian players who watched the State of Origin rugby league game on TV in a bar before heading to a dinner for the Professional Cricketers' Association benevolent fund, when his behaviour was described by one guest as "obnoxious". Symonds had to pay the price for it, by being ousted from the squad.

Quinton de Kock’s "Knee" Controversy

South Africa cricketer Quinton de Kock landed in controversy, when he refused to take the knee supporting the 'Black Lives Matter' movement, and made himself unavailable for their tournament opener against West Indies. The move sparked a global debate on player freedom versus team directives.

After missing the match against West Indies, De Kock released a statement in which he apologised and said "I am not a racist", before returning to the team for the rest of the tournament. He explained that he felt his rights were being infringed upon due to the directive coming from the Cricket South Africa, but that he was not against the movement itself. He just had a different personal view on the matter.

Bangladesh And Pakistan Diplomatic Crisis

This is the most recent of the controversies and precedes the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026. Bangladesh were removed from the T20 World Cup and replaced by Scotland as they requested ICC to shift their matches to Sri Lanka. They highlighted security threat in India as the reason for the request of schedule change. ICC's investigation said that they have found no such threats and ousted Bangladesh from the World Cup.

Pakistan took a diplomatic stance in support of Bangladesh and their government announced that they will not play against India in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026. While they agreed to play in the remainder of the games, they were firm on their decision to boycott the India match. The issue is still waiting to be resolved.